So- right now I'm faced with three issues:
1. The cut. Almost all the good sleeping bags are mummy shaped, which I feel rather claustraphobic in. My 15 year old one is a mummy, and I usually unzip about a foot of it from the bottom so I can stick a leg out. This is fine in the summer, but not so great when it's colder out. However, I don't want a regular rectangular one that won't be comfy and warm (as well as compressible), which brings me to number 2.
2. The warmth factor. My instinct is to go with a warmer rated sleeping bag- probably a three season that's in the lower temp range (three season's are usually between+15F to +32F). Though I've done it before, I can't really see myself camping in the snow anytime soon, so I'm not even considering a four-season bag. My only concern with this is that I'll be too hot in the warmer summer months when I'm more likely to use it. I suppose this isn't really a dilemma though, I can just unzip the whole thing.
3. Finally- whether to go with the down or synthetic fill. I haven't researched this one enough to even wager a guess.
All this came about when I got my rei membership dividend check in the mail today. Since I got a bunch of stuff there for my europe trip, I paid the fee, and now get back 10% of my yearly spendings for life. (You can bring the check to the store and request cash, but it's clearly made easier to apply it to future purchases.) Plus, until april 1st, I have an extra coupon for 20% off of one item- in this case, a sleeping bag. Boy oh boy. I need some input from all you outdoorsy readers! Here's one I'm considering right now.
3 comments:
Update! I found out that mountain hardware makes bags with an expandable draft tube which gives an extra 8 inches of leg room. This is the perfect middle ground- a mummy bag that can become more roomy. Now I just have to decide if I want a heavier, synthetic, three season bag like this one, or a lighter, goose down, warmer weather bag like this one. Any input? Please?
I think the down ones are supposed to be warmer when you need them to be, and cooler when you need them to be. Kind of like silk, if that makes sense. The down are more expensive but I think are generally considered better...I just got a down mummy one last fall.
Sorry, I've been out of town for a while. Last time I was looking at gear it seemed that synthetic had totally eclipsed down, and that the best you could say for down was "It's just about as good as synthetic, in most conditions." In particular, if there's any chance of it getting wet, synthetic will crush down for warmth and drying speed.
Sleeping bags are expensive! I bought one for Erik when we went camping late last year, and had to make sure it zipped together with mine, and so ended up getting him a North Face one, I think, and it was a lot. And then when he moved out he took it with him. I considered trying to pawn off *my* much older sleeping bag on him, and keep the nice new one, but decided that'd be a really tacky thing to do.
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